Truss



April 26, 1949. J. cmRLELLlY TRUss ,Filed March 5, 1948 JNVENTOR. Joss/H c/A nLE/.L/

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Patented Apr. 26, 1949 UNITED STATES.. PATENT OFFICE 4 rriwss Joseph ciarieui, Waterbury, conn.

Application March 5, 1948, Serial No. 13,301

1 claim. (c1. 12s-9s) This invention relates to abdominal supports,

and more particularly to a truss or belt adapted to give support to the abdominal wall in cases of hernia or other weakness therein. l

One object of this invention is to provide a device of the above nature which includes resilient superposed belts so arranged as to give increased support to the lower part of the abdomen.

Another object is to provide a device of the above nature which includes an improved means for securing the movable hip pads, whereby they will not shift out of position.

Another object is to provide a device of the above nature which may be readily adjusted to provide the desired supporting characteristics.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to apply and manipulate, compact, ornamental in appearance, and very efcient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view, there has been illustrated on the accompanying drawing one form in which the invention may conveniently be embodied in practice.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front view showing the improved truss in outspread position.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a. sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, showing the means for clamping the oval pads to the belts.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, showing the arrangement of the elastic belt inserts.

Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral II) indicates an elongated main strap preferably of leather which has widened integral protecting aps II, I2 at its respective left and right hand ends. The belt I is adapted to be applied to the body of the wearer with the aps II, I2I partly overlapped upon the abdomen.

The outer surface of the main strap I0 is provided with a plurality of spaced narrow vertical loops I3, I4, I5, I6, I'I, I8, and I9, which are adapted to slidably confine a pair of superimposed resilient inner and outer belts 20, 2| which are provided with buckles 22, 23 at their lefthand ends for adjustably securing their respective right-hand ends thereto. The inner belt 20 is preferably made of a fabric webbing and is made resilient by virtue of an elastic insert 24 which is spliced into its central portion by means of sewed overlapping strips 25. Similarly, the

2 outer belt 2| is a fabric webbing and has an elastic insert 26 secured by sewed strips 21.

vIt will be seen that the inner and outer belts 20,'2I diverge from their superimposedA relation toward their ends, so that when the truss is applied to the wearers body, the outer belt 2I will be disposed below the inner belt 20 in the region of the abdomen.

In order to give increased support to the lower portion of the abdomen, the elastic insert 2B in the outer belt 2I employs two layers of elastic webbing 26a and therefore has a greater stiffness than the elastic insert 24 in the inner belt 20, which has only one layer of elastic webbing.

A pair of oval pads 28, 29 of any suitable sizes are adapted to be held against the outer surfaces of the respective protecting flaps II, I2 by the end portions of the belts 20, 2|.

The oval pads 28, 29 are clamped in the desired positions by means of clamping disks 30, 3| which are secured by screws 32, 33 passing between the end portions of the belts 20, 2l, and into threaded engagement with the pads 28, 29. In order to permit normal adjustment of the oval pads 28, 29, without the use of tools, the screws 32, 33 are provided with apertured heads 34 which swingably carry handles 35, as shown in Fig. 3.

The truss will be prevented from causing discomfort over the wearers hips by means of a pair of elongated hip pads 36, 3l which are provided respectively with wide loops 38, 39 at their outer sides which slidably embrace the main strap I0.

The forward ends of the hip pads 36, 31 are secured to the protecting iiaps I I, I2 by means of stitching 40, 4I, whereby the hip pads will have limited freedom of movement upon the main strap, and will be prevented from shifting out of their proper positions.

Operation In operation, the truss will be applied around the wearers Waist, and the ends of the inner and outer belts 20, 2I secured together in front by means of the buckles 22, 23 with the protecting flaps II, I2 in a partly overlapping position. The screws 32, 33 will then be loosened, so that the oval pads 28, 29 may be shifted in order to give support at the desired points, after which the screws 32, 33 will be tightened.

The belts 20, 2l may then be adjusted in the buckles 22, 23 so that the top and bottom portions of the pads 28, 29 will exert different pressures as desired by the wearer. The upper portions of the protecting flaps Il, I2 will then be folded downwardly invorder to serve as covers for the pads 28, 29.

One advantage of the improved truss herein disclosed is that the oval pads 28, 29 may be easily adjusted by a simple manual operation to exert pressures of the desired degree, location, and direction.

Another advantage is that the truss will automatically give increased support at the lower part of the abdomen, where it is needed.

Another advantage is that the movement of the hip pads is positively limited, whereby they cannot get out of place. y

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form is shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specie disclosure, but may be modified and embodied in various other forms Without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodimens coming within the scope of `the following claim.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

In a truss, a main strap adapted to encircle 4 the waist of the wearer, and having integral widened end flaps, a pair of narrow loose belts slidably superimposed upon each other and located upon the outer surface of said main strap, said belts diverging toward their ends, whereby the end portions of the outer belt will lie below the end portions of the inner belt outwardly of said end flaps, each of said belts having a buckle .for securing the ends thereof, together. whereby a relatively Wide portion of said truss is adapted to support the abdomen, and an elongated hip pad slidably supported at the inner side of said main strap, one end of said hip pad being secured to one of said end aps by stitching, whereby vSalti hip pad may have limited movement upon the main strap.

' JOSEPH CIARLELLI.

REFERENQES CITED UNITED STATES PTENTS 

